


Rain and Ether

by OpienYourMind



Category: Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Prior to the game's events, Spoilers through chapter 7
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-05
Updated: 2018-03-05
Packaged: 2019-03-27 06:25:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13875051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OpienYourMind/pseuds/OpienYourMind
Summary: Before Nia took up with Torna, she felt as if, apart from her Blade, she didn't have an ally on Alrest.





	Rain and Ether

_Running. Always running._

The slight girl’s feet pounded in the wet grass, their owner thankful that her disguise didn’t require her to wear the ridiculous heels her normal appearance did.

_Why are they after me? What is it that they have against us?_

She tore over the soaking ground beneath her, somehow managing to not slip and slide due to some inhuman grace in her movements.

“Ah-!”

She dug her heels in and came to an abrupt stop at the rocky edge of the Gormott Titan, saved from the fall into the Cloud Sea only by her slight night vision. As she looked around frantically for a place to hide, her feline ears twitched nervously, picking up the distant shouts of her pursuers.

 _Think, think, damn you,_ she cursed herself, mentally smacking herself for taking the dead-end path down Greatspine Boundary. She had thought it would be unsafe to try and hide in the bustling city of Torigoth, but of course, hindsight now highlighted how simple it would be to lose one’s trackers over rooftops or in the thick of a crowd. She growled in frustration at the thick rain for obscuring her sight.

Her wildly searching eyes caught sight of a high tree across a stony overhang. _Of course. They can’t climb trees like I can, and definitely not in this weather._

She scrambled madly up the path, reaching the tree’s first branch just as the lights of the Indoline officers’ lanterns came into view. A quadwing perched nearby stretched out its neck inquisitively as if to peck at her, but she quickly crushed any notions it might’ve had with a predatory hiss.

“Damn! Spread out and search for her! You two, stay back and watch the pass!” She remained steady on her perch, slowly turning her head to follow the soldiers’ progress.

“Dromarch.” She whispered in her heavy accent, removing a weakly glowing Core Crystal from the leather pouch at her belt. The diamond-shaped crystal pulsed gently, expanded into bright blue light and coalesced into a white-furred catlike Blade that alighted on the branch beside her.

“My lady Nia.” Dromarch inclined his head toward his Driver. “You have need of me?”

“Sorry to ask, but I need you to distract those bastards. You can use your power better now, right?”

Dromarch leaned back slightly, tasting the rain on his tongue. “Of course, milady. I will find you again once it is safe. Be on your guard; they may have more troops waiting out of sight.”

“Of course.” Nia nodded.

“Very well. Until then…”

Dromarch leapt lightly down, digging his claws into the trunk to slow his fall. As soon as he was out of sight, Nia followed his actions, sliding down the tree after him. She scanned the rocky area, making sure no soldiers were nearby, and crouched down in a clump of bushes to wait.

After about a minute, a bright blue light flared from a nearby outcrop. One pained male voice rose from the same spot.

_“That’s her! After the Blade!”_

Nia whispered a quiet thanks to Dromarch, slipping away from her hiding spot and breaking into a run. She did her best to keep her footsteps muted, but she couldn’t entirely mask her splashing through the deep puddles.

The clashing of weapons and roaring of water ether rang out as Nia slunk past another pair of soldiers heading for Dromarch. She was almost to the pass to Garanti Plain and safety-

_Dammit!_

She darted off to the side, having barely managed to spot the two soldiers that were still guarding the pass.

_What do I do here? Do I have to…_

She put a hand up to her chest for a second, before nodding to herself in affirmation.

 _There’s no one here to see. What the hell_ …

Nia held a hand in front of her, making sure to stay in the shadows, and concentrated as hard as she could. A small teardrop-shaped crystal formed out of the airborne ether, the blue gem tinged with red.

The ether condensed into a dark wooden guard and hilt around the crystal, followed by a curved leafy branch extending upward into the shape of a curved sword. Nia held the scimitar, its long branch now suffused with waves of blue energy, close to her side and scampered across the grass, again doing her best not to betray her location with too much splashing.

“Hey! There she- _agh!_ ”

Nia’s sword buried itself deep into the side of the first Indoline soldier before he had even finished his sentence. As he crumpled- unconscious but not dead- she leapt back from the second, who was readying his lance.

“ _Raah!”_ The soldier ran at her, pulling back for a heavy downward swing. Nia darted in, spun around his strike on her heel, and turned her momentum into a powerful slash from the side. The soldier stopped in his tracks, perplexed to find his weapon split in two, before a kick in the small of the back sent him sprawling.

Nia grabbed his shoulder and flipped him over, staring hard into the fearful eyes half-shown through his helmet. She pressed her fist forcefully into his throat, the base of her blade an inch away from his chin.

“Call. Your damn boss. Off. Now.”

The soldier nodded, quaking beneath her. Nia briefly debated whether to simply leave it at that and run to wait for Dromarch, but she decided to leave him with one last reminder.

“Take this as a message to His Eminence the _Praetor,_ ” Nia hissed, putting every bit of her anger into her voice and the punch she delivered. She heard the crunch of his nose breaking and felt the spurt of blood beneath her fingers, briefly giving her healer’s sensibilities a deep revulsion, but she shook it off and leapt back.

Without another thought, Nia turned and ran, tossing her sword aside. The ether would return to the air soon enough anyway, and if they saw it they would think she was still in the area.

_Damn them. Why can’t I stand and fight… Why do I have to keep running…_

Nia closed her eyes and shook her head, and suddenly found herself running on air.

“Gahh!” With a heavy thud, she slammed heavily into the earth. She rolled over, trying to sit up and test for injuries, but soon found four spear tips at her head.

“You’re coming to see His Eminence,” rang a harsh voice in her ears. Nia slowly focused on the dark robes of the Praetorian priest.

_Why can’t I… stand and…_

Nia’s last thought faded as her head smacked on the ground.

* * *

 

_It’s funny that these bastards think they can hold me. I could break this door down in a second if I was at full power…_

Nia sat sulking against the wall of the Titan ship’s cell, until her ears twitched, picking up the sound of screams and the slashes of weapons.

 _This might be interesting_.

She heard a choked yell echo from outside her door, followed quickly by the bullet-like spatter of blood against metal. A harsh ring sounded from the cell door, the lock shattered in an instant. Nia prepared to spring, waiting only for the door to open-

“I’m not going to harm you.”

Nia didn’t recognize the quiet, yet intense, tenor voice. Its owner pushed the door open about a quarter of the way and stepped into the cell. Her eyes first took in the long sword hanging loosely from his right hand, then his eyes shining dully behind the strange horned mask he wore, and then the blood-colored crystal in the sword’s hilt.

“You’re like me, then? That’s an interestin’ one. Never seen another for myself.”

She received a silent nod and an outstretched hand in answer. “My name is Jin. How would you like to help me and my friends take back what’s ours…”

“Nia.”

“Nia.”

“I think I’d like that very much.” Nia bared her teeth in a grin, grasping her new ally’s hand.

**Author's Note:**

> This was the first time I tried to write any sort of fight scene, hope it turned out decently. Nia's one of my favorite characters in the game, and I want to do her justice.


End file.
